Google Site Kit Analytics Error on Setup

  • Resolved chenryahts

    (@chenryahts)


    2 years, 2 months ago

    @jamesosborne directed me to open a new ticket from https://www.ads-software.com/support/topic/you-need-to-connect-the-universal-analytics-property/.

    _________________________________

    `And, I looked at the source code, and the only UA- property tag on the page is this one (that looks like it’s from site kit – cause it doesn’t match any of our GA properties):

    var _googlesitekitTrackingData = {“referenceSiteURL”:”xxxx.xxx”,”userIDHash”:”xxx”,”isAuthenticated”:true,”activeModules”:[“search-console”,”analytics”,”pagespeed-insights”],”isSiteKitScreen”:false,”trackingEnabled”:false,”trackingID”:”UA-000000000-3″};

    I promise that the trackingID does not match any in our properties, or even any in the list.. But, the code says googlesitkitTrackingData, so where is it coming from?

    Edit: And this is the error message I see on the backend trying to set it up:

    You need to connect the Universal Analytics property that’s associated with this Google Analytics 4 property.

    Any ideas about how to fix this?

    Thanks!`

    Then @jamesosborne suggested it’s a OPT-IN (which I didn’t), here:

    if users have opted into this from the plugin’s settings (Site Kit > Settings > Admin Settings). This is the code snippet you described above.

    So, after reading more (https://sitekit.withgoogle.com/documentation/using-site-kit/ga4/), it seems like it’s completely irrelevant which property gets picked. But, now it’s treating this GA4 property like a universal property (so, less functionality?)

    And, confirming this ‘Opt-In’ feature, it isn’t. I DO NOT HAVE tracking enabled. This checkbox is NOT checked:

    Help us improve Site Kit by sharing anonymous usage data.
All collected data is treated in accordance with the Google Privacy Policy.

    And, even if it were, shouldn’t I still be able to connect to a GA4 property without going through a NON-existant UA property?

    Please help, as it stands, the only thing I actually wanted it to do was connect to Google Analytics, and it seems that’s the only thing it isn’t going to do.

    Thank you,

Viewing 15 replies - 1 through 15 (of 21 total)
  • Plugin Support James Osborne

    (@jamesosborne)

    Hi @chenryahts,

    Many thanks for opening a support topic. When users are setting up the Analytics module within Site Kit, users must select both a Universal Type Analytics property (UA) and also a Google Analytics 4 (GA4) property. When selecting the UA property, where you see the “You need to connect the Universal Analytics property that’s associated with this Google Analytics 4 property.” notice, this isn’t an error. It’s just a notice to suggest you select your preferred UA property.

    If you’re not seeing your expected Google Analytics UA properties in the dropdown list, this may be due to the property you’re expecting to see not being a property within the selected Google Analytics account. A Google Analytics account can have many properties. Another possibility is the Google Account which you used to connect Site Kit, doesn’t have access to the Analytics property you’re expecting to see.

    So we can troubleshoot this further, please share the following:

    1. Your Site Health information. You can use this form to share privately if preferred.
    2. When you’re trying to connect Google Analytics, can you confirm that the issue you’re facing, if that you don’t see a particular UA type property in the dropdown list? If so, this list comes from your Google Account. Please check and confirm whether this exists if you visit analytics.google.com and select the same Google Analytics account.

    In relation to the Opt-In snippet, once we have your Site Health information, from above, we can check this further. The Site Kit annoymized ID ends in 087-3, and this is not coming from your own Google Analytics account.

    Looking forward to hearing from you.

    Thread Starter chenryahts

    (@chenryahts)

    Okay,

    I am seeing the Google Analytics Properties in the drop-down.

    The GA4 property does not have an associated UA property. It does not exist. When I view it on Google Analytics, it shows the owner account, and then this property. There is no associated UA property. And, since it’s been discontinued, I couldn’t even set one up, from what I see.

    I can see it in Google Analytics fine. I don’t have any trouble or errors with it on the actually Google Analytics site.

    And, yes, the only GA tracking ID ends in 9087-3, so it appears to be the one that should be disabled.

    And, I submitted your form.

    Thanks,

    Plugin Support James Osborne

    (@jamesosborne)

    Many thanks for sharing the additional insights, very useful indeed.

    The GA4 property does not have an associated UA property. It does not exist.

    This isn’t a problem. You can choose whatever GA4 property you wish, along with whatever UA property you prefer. As long as they are within the same Google Analytics account, they don’t have to be connected at Google Analytics level.

    I can see it in Google Analytics fine. I don’t have any trouble or errors with it on the actually Google Analytics site.

    That’s good to know. I’ve also checked your site, and I can see both a UA and GA4 snippet placed on your site, with all appearing fine. Nice job on the site also!

    I also checked your site using the tagassistant.google.com service, and I can confirm that both the Site Kit connected properties (UA and GA4) are working as expected.

    And, yes, the only GA tracking ID ends in 9087-3, so it appears to be the one that should be disabled.

    You don’t need to disable this, as it only appears for you, as a logged in administrator. It’s an annoymize setting, and you’ll notice that the setting appears as “trackingEnabled":false“. This means that if you’ve opted out, which you have, then there will be nothing tracked on this Site Kit property Id.

    Let me know if you have any further questions with the above.

    Thread Starter chenryahts

    (@chenryahts)

    Okay, maybe this should be reflected in that documentation I linked earlier, cause it’s really confusing.

    I guess I’ll leave it as it is, because it is working now.

    Weird note though about how it’s displaying on the actual Google Analytics site, before, if I was looking at this data, it would show me the name of the GA4 property on the top, and since this change, it now just shows ‘All accounts’ with the drop down, it doesn’t display this account as the chosen account anymore.

    But, thanks for all your help, and thanks for the site compliment!

    Plugin Support James Osborne

    (@jamesosborne)

    I’ll certainly pass on your feedback regarding the anonymize tag reference, which could be documentation, along with discussing the GA4 documentation, in relation to not having to connect the properties at analytics.google.com level. Many thanks for the feedback, it’s always good to hear input from users.

    Note also that Site Kit at present displays the data within it’s wp-admin dashboard based on the connected UA type property. This will eventually witch over to displaying data based on the connected GA4 property.

    If you have any further queries be sure to reach out.

    Have a great weekend.

    Thread Starter chenryahts

    (@chenryahts)

    Does that mean that inside the Site Kit, it’s actually displaying the data for the wrong property?

    Or, just the wrong settings type?

    Thanks!

    Plugin Support James Osborne

    (@jamesosborne)

    Hi @chenryahts,

    Inside Site Kit when setting up Analytics, it will display the property ID and property name. It won’t display the measurement ID. The connected UA and GA4 properties are reporting as expected on your site, displaying the below. 

    analytics_property_id: UA-8685??????
analytics_4_measurement_id: G-09????????

    These are the properties that you’ll see being tracked if you check your site using tagassistant.google.com also.

    When you mention it’s displaying the wrong settings type, I think this may be because you might be referring to the GA4 property ID, which is different to the measurement ID. I’ll being this up with the team next week, and I think this could be improved, to display the measurement ID (with the G- prefix) next to the GA4 property name, when connecting Analytics.

    Regardless of the above, I can confirm that Analytics is reporting on your site, for both properties listed above. I can let you know here if we do plan to make any updates on this if you wish.

    Thread Starter chenryahts

    (@chenryahts)

    Hey @jamesosborne,

    It looked like it was working til yesterday’s update!

    Now, I can’t see the data in Google Analytics when looking at the GA4 property. But, I can still see it through the dashboard.

    Help! What happened?

    Thanks!

    Plugin Support James Osborne

    (@jamesosborne)

    Hi @chenryahts,

    The data shown within your Site Kit dashboard is based on a Universal Type (UA) property. For that reason when you wish to compare this from the Analytics platform (analytics.google.com) you can click on the link within Site Kit, to view the associated connected UA property.

    You’ll find the GA4 connected property by visiting your Site Kit settings, and reviewing the GA4 property.

    Let me know if you have any further questions with the above.

    Thread Starter chenryahts

    (@chenryahts)

    Hi @jamesosborne ,

    Okay, but the associated UA property still isn’t the right property, and now it’s mixing all the data.

    How can I create a NEW UA property to go with this GA4 property so that the data is actually attributed correctly?

    This is getting more complicated than just setting it up myself… why does it insist on being connected to a UA property?

    Thanks!

    Thread Starter chenryahts

    (@chenryahts)

    I do see that I can now tell it not to insert the incorrect UA code… and, now it seems to be sending to the correct property in Google Analytics, but missed all the data from yesterday?

    So, I think it’s working with this set:

    Universal Analytics Code Snippet
Snippet is not inserted

    So, thanks… I’m still not sure why, if Google is phasing out the UA tags, that I would have to connect a NEW GA4 tag to an old UA tag…

    Plugin Support James Osborne

    (@jamesosborne)

    Hi @chenryahts,

    Site Kit doesn’t store data, it pulls it from your Google Analytics account. You can choose to connect Site Kit to any UA and any GA4 property you wish. They just have to be under the same Google Analytics account.

    If you have a particular UA property, and it’s not under the same account, you can move it, the the same account which hosts your GA4 property.

    This is getting more complicated than just setting it up myself… why does it insist on being connected to a UA property?

    Good question! At present many users didn’t migrate to Google Analytics 4, and there are differences in the reporting API for GA4. Site Kit will move to display dashboard data based on the connected GA4 property eventually, but for viewing your GA4 data at present, you’ll need to use the Analytics platform directly. The plugin can insert your GA4 snippet, but it will display data within it’s dashboard based on the connected UA property at present.

    Thread Starter chenryahts

    (@chenryahts)

    Okay, fine.

    So, how do I setup a NEW UA property to use with it?

    Thanks!

    Plugin Support James Osborne

    (@jamesosborne)

    I do see that I can now tell it not to insert the incorrect UA code… and, now it seems to be sending to the correct property in Google Analytics, but missed all the data from yesterday?

    You can indeed choose to not place a UA snippet via Site Kit if you wish. Just note that the Site Kit dashboard won’t display your GA4 data at present.

    So, thanks… I’m still not sure why, if Google is phasing out the UA tags, that I would have to connect a NEW GA4 tag to an old UA tag…

    If you choose to connect the Analytic module within Site Kit, you must connect both a UA and a GA4 property. A UA property can be used to display data within the Site Kit dashboard. A GA4 property is connected so users have a GA4 property inserted on their site if they wish. This also means they’re ready to switch over to GA4 only, once Site Kit displays data based on a GA4 property, within its dashboard.

    So, how do I setup a NEW UA property to use with it?

    I’ve made a video of how you can do this within the plugin. See here. You just need to edit your Google analytics module settings within Site Kit, and then choose the option to “Set up a new property”, next to your selected Google Analytics account.

    We have more documentation on the plugin website in relation to Google Analytics with Site Kit.

    Thread Starter chenryahts

    (@chenryahts)

    Okay, I’ve done that, and I’m still having the issue that if this is selected:

    Place Universal Analytics code
Site Kit will add the UA code automatically.

    Then the GA4 property doesn’t ‘see’ any of the traffic, it all goes to the UA property? I would expect if BOTH tags are placed, then BOTH tags would see the traffic, but they don’t.

    Is this the expected behavior?

Viewing 15 replies - 1 through 15 (of 21 total)
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